The first blog post I ever wrote was some time in 2008. Though I can roughly pinpoint the date, I have no idea whatsoever what that post was about.

At the time I was running an ecommerce company dedicated to luxury pet accessories. Yes, really. It was called The Pet Extraordinarium. Again, yes really. It was the brainchild of my wife and I, and we were doing well until the small matter of a global financial meltdown wiped out the hopes of a generation. But that’s another story.

In the mid 2000s, blogging hit the mainstream. It had exploded over the previous few years, and communications professionals were becoming more and more interested in the medium as a marketing tactic. That’s how I came to it; blogging about topics related to pets in a bid to shill cat collars and dog beds. I remember being amazed when one post I wrote about a dog that was supposedly starved in the name of of “modern art” went viral.

Around that time I also blogged as a cat. ‘The Jake Files’ was my attempt to ingratiate myself with an online community of cat lovers who, for some reason still alien to me, insisted on writing in the voice of their pets. It was in the days when forums were big and blog posts written by cats created chat. What a time to be alive.[Read more…]

If you’ve spoken to a social media marketing consultant recently they’ll probably have said to you something along the lines of: “Live video is what counts in social media nowadays. To beat the algorithms you need to start producing live video for Facebook/Instagram Stories”.

Well listen up: No. You. Do. Not.

There is no questioning the fact that live video works well on Facebook at the current time and that Instagram Stories are big news. No argument from me on either front. But what I do take issue with is that live video is suitable for everyone. Or even that Instagram Stories is suitable for everyone. [Read more…]

This is just a guess, but when David Bowie wrote “turn and face the strange” in the lyrics to Changes in 1971, I don’t think he was referencing the communications industry some 47 years in the future.

But let’s withhold disbelief for just a second and assume I’m wrong. What absolutely incredible foresight the man had! Because it’s hard to imagine five words as pertinent to us today as those.

All around us things are cha-cha-changing at an incredible rate. I count myself as someone who’s at least aware of and trying to be informed about what’s happening, and yet it honestly scares the bejesus out of me sometimes what I don’t know.

Founder of Don’t Cry Wolf John Brown wrote this week that “there is something wonderfully liberating when you realise how utterly stupid you are” prior to evangelising about the benefits of ensuring you set aside chunks of time just to learn.

It’s something I completely agree with him on. It’s all too easy to keep going, head down, day after day after day, and go through an entire year without reading that book or subscribing to that podcast or attending that conference.

In the spirit of prompting you to think about what exactly it is that you don’t know, here are four vital statistics that everyone working in communications and public relations should take on board and research around.[Read more…]

“And when the Lamb opened the seventh seal,
silence covered the sky.”

The Book of Revelation 8:1

Over the last year or two a perfect storm has been brewing around the public relations industry. It’s one that, if not managed very carefully by communications practitioners, could have a huge impact on the industry and quite possibly wipe out large swathes of agencies, freelancers and in-house practitioners alike. Don’t believe me? Read on.[Read more…]

In perhaps the most drawn out death since the infamous Bülent Kayabas scene from 1973 movie Karateci Kız, organic reach on Facebook appears to have finally met its inevitable doom.

The announcement at the end of last week that there will be “major changes” to the way the Facebook news feed works comes as a surprise only because it seemed like the day would never actually come. It’s been on the cards for longer than I care to remember, and I for one have spent a large part of the last three years trying to convince brands and organisations that paying for reach on Facebook was not simply an option, it was a requirement.

Indeed, as long as four years ago I wrote an eBook called ‘Addressing Facebook Zero’ that presented thoughts on the best way to combat the day when organic reach died. To think that it’s taken this long for that day to come is astounding.

Either way, however, while Facebook has not stated in definitive terms that organic reach is dead, we can take it pretty much as red that this will become the case over the next few weeks. The warning signs have been there for a couple of months.

Just as we were all settling down with a glass of mulled wine to enjoy the festive season, budget retailer Poundland has thrown the cat among the partridges with one of the more controversial campaigns of the year. And the intentionally confrontational and arrogant stance it has taken to the backlash against its ‘naughty elf’ social media ads puts profit before propriety.

The festive season can make or break retailers. I know this, as about ten years back I established and ran an ecommerce company. About 60% of our entire year’s profits came from the six or seven weeks prior to Christmas.

It puts into perspective why the major department stores put £millions into their Christmas advertising campaigns (I’m looking at you, John Lewis). And faced with that sort of investment, how are you supposed to compete? Well, by doing something distinctive and different.[Read more…]

In March this year I was contacted by a company called The Tattoo Shop for assistance with its social media strategy. Six months later and the company’s revenue has increased by an impressive 23%.

As a case study, it goes a long way towards proving that the strategic use of social media marketing can have a significant impact on a company’s bottom line. So let’s take an in-depth look at how I’ve done it…[Read more…]

When someone follows through on a bet that he will change his name to ‘Public Relations’ if a friend can get more Twitter followers than him, you know he’s either very passionate about the industry he works in or he’s a little, um, ‘unbalanced’. Or both.

So when Rich Leigh (sorry, I mean Public Relations) announced he was publishing a book about some of the rubbish that is written and spoken about the industry he is named after, it immediately piqued my interest. And I have to say, it doesn’t disappoint.

Myths of PR covers 18 commonly-held beliefs and misconceptions about the industry, from ‘all publicity is good publicity’ to ‘PR is all spin’ to ‘you have to be an extrovert to succeed in PR’. It tackles them head-on and in clear, easy-to-read and understand language. [Read more…]

On 27th April, world-leading public relations influencer and author Gini Dietrich is making her first ever appearance at a UK event. She’s been a regular on the US speaking circuit for years, and will be talking about digital communications strategy and the PESO model, which she introduced in her 2014 book, ‘Spin Sucks: Communication and Reputation Management in the Digital Age’. Ahead of her UK debut, I asked Gini to explain a bit more about PESO, what it is and how it works.

At Digital Download, Gini is taking part in an open Q&A about digital communications strategy where you’ll get the chance to put your own questions to her. Tickets are on sale now, but there are only a small handful left so if you’d like to talk to Gini, book quickly![Read more…]

This post builds on that by identifying not just areas you need a working knowledge of, but specific things you need to learn how to do in order to future proof your career in public relations and communications.

As I said in that first post, the amount of time you can continue to wing it is getting less with every passing week. Within a very short year or two this stuff will be mandatory and, without wishing to sound melodramatic, if you don’t step up to the mark, someone else will.

[UPDATE: After publishing this post I read a short piece on City A.M. that demonstrates the convergence of marketing disciplinesperfectly. At the Brighton SEO show there were sessions on branding, content marketing, influencer relations and psychology, among others.]

I hope you find this list useful to help identify areas in which you need training or need to upskill, and into which you need to invest your time and training budget. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you’d like to discuss further.

So here they are. The 9 key things you need to know how to do for a future in PR.[Read more…]

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My name is Paul Sutton, and I offer strategic social media consultancy, creative campaign advice & best practice training for brands & businesses. If you'd like to discuss boosting your business using social & digital media, GET IN TOUCH!